Proposed boundaries for the Crown Heights North historic district.
On Sept. 19, the Landmarks Preservation Commission will be considering the designation of a Crown Heights North historic district. Tucked between Eastern Parkway on the south and Atlantic Avenue on the north, this neighborhood is smack-dab in the middle of Brooklyn’s Caribbean-immigrant enclave. It’s also got a rich history, according to the L.P.C.’s monograph on the ‘hood:
Originally a rural area tucked inside the village of Bedford, at the eastern reach of the city of Brooklyn, most of the land was owned by the Lefferts family and worked by the family’s slaves. The Leffertses started to sell their holdings in the 1850’s, and by the 1870’s wealthy folks started to move to St. Mark’s Avenue.
After the Brooklyn Bridge opened in 1883, a large influx of people started to transform the rural area, and large-scale development started in the early to mid-1880’s.
Having lived in the area ourselves, we can attest to the beauty of some of the large mansions in the area. We’ve got no pictures for as of now, but let’s see what happens over the weekend.
-Matthew Grace
